Books and films

A. Books

“I used to hate literature1 at school, but now I read a lot. I started off with fiction2.
I read hundreds of novels3, mostly thrillers4 and science fiction5. My favourite
author6 is John le Carré.
Recently, I’ve started reading quite a lot of biographies7, and even some poetry8.
Two of my favourite poets are Antonio Machado and Federico García Lorca. They
both wrote poems in the early 20th century.”
1 serious and important writing 5 stories about the future
2 stories about imaginary people and events 6 someone who writes books
3 fiction books 7 stories of a person’s life, written by
another person
4 exciting stories, often about crime 8 pieces of creative writing in short lines

B. Films
How do you decide which films you are going to see?
Silmy:
If it’s a horror film [a film that makes people frightened, e.g. Dracula], I usually go
and see it. I love horror films.
Farhan:
If a film gets good reviews [opinions in a newspaper or magazine], then I often
go and see it.
Robby:
If there’s a big star [a famous actor] in it, then I am more likely to see it. I don’t
normally go and see films if I don’t recognise the names of the actors [the
people who are in films].
Alya:
I’m not interested in films that are serious or complicated [difficult to
understand]; I only go to the cinema for entertainment [things you see or do
to enjoy yourself].
Siti:
I like comedies [films that are funny] and especially romantic comedies
[comedies that have a love story]. I’ll go and see anything that Ashton Kutcher
is in!
Ilham:
I look to see what’s on [what films are being shown at the cinema], and go to
anything that I fancy seeing [want to see; infml].
Fauzan:
For me, the film director [the person who tells the actors what to do, e.g.
Spielberg] is the most important thing. I always go and see the latest film
[the newest, most recent] by directors I really like such as Ben Affleck.
Language Help
noun person verb
entertainm entertainer enterta
ent in
review reviewer review
acting actor act
directing director direct

Exercises
1 Find twelve more words, across or down, connected with books and films.
LI T ER A T UR E
PES AU T HOR T
ACT OR N R GD R
C HF I C T I ON E
T AP UR F LSF V
E NO VE L LTI I
P OE TR Y E AL E
C OM ED Y R R MW

2 Cross out one wrong word in each sentence. Write the correct word at the
end.
1 Many poems are around 300 pages. novels
2 Cinema grew in popularity in the first half of the 20th year. ________
3 I enjoy science fiction because I like stories about the past. ________
4 What’s happening at the cinema? ________
5 We went to see the film because there was a good article in the newspaper. ____
6 I’ve been reading a new autobiography of Alfred Hitchcock by Donald Spoto. ______
7 Comedies should make people frightened. ______

3 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word on the right.
1 William Wordsworth is a very famous poet. POETRY
2 I thought the film was good _______. ENTERTAIN
3 Johnny Depp is one of my favourite ______. ACT
4 My daughter wrote a lovely _____for her school magazine. POETRY
5 I thought the ____ in the film was a bit unnatural. ACT
6 I like him very much; he’s a great _____. ENTERTAIN
7 I didn’t agree with what the ______said. REVIEW
8 Who’s your favourite _______? DIRECT

4 Complete the dialogue.

A: What’s 1 on at the cinema?
B: Er, there’s the 2 _________ film by Pedro Almodóvar. It only came out yesterday.
A: Oh, the guy who 3 ________ Julieta. He’s a very good 4 __________, but I don’t understand
some of his films – they’re a bit 5__________ for me. Anything else
6 __________?
B: Well, a couple of romantic 7 __________, which may be fun. And they’re showing The Kite
Runner again.
A: Oh, what’s that?
B: It’s a film based on the 8_________ by Khaled Hosseini. It’s a very good book. Do you 9
___________ seeing that?
A: Yeah, why not.

5 Over to you
Answer the questions. If possible, compare your answers with someone else.
1 Do you read novels or poetry? If so, what do you like? Who are your favourite authors?
2 Do you go to the cinema? If so, how do you decide which films to go and see?
3 Do you often read film reviews?
4 What are your favourite films? Who are your favourite actors?